Sole Element
by blondie91
Summary: After being trapped inside a tombstone for many years, an ancient evil has now been freed and wants revenge on the universe. How can such evil be destroyed? How much will it take to calm a raging soul? [Xover fic]
1. Prologue

**Sole Element  
**_by: blondie91 and Jupiter-Lightning_

******Prologue**

_In the cold depths of the Sacred Realm lay a beaten and battered body. Just hours ago he had been defeated by a mere child. His dreams of conquest were shattered into a million fragments within the stronghold of his mind. He would just lay here in this gloomy and desolate dimension, but once he recovered, he knew he could return for vengeance against the Hylian boy who had stripped him of his powers and title. It was all just a matter of time._

_Much time passed along as the green skinned man managed to regain some of his strength back. Now he could stand and walk around the darkness before him. Maybe there was a way out of this place somewhere? He thought to himself as he smirked. Or maybe there was someone else here? After all, he did sense some strange power emanating not far from where he was standing. He had sensed it for days now, and he knew it was a power like no other; something fearsome, something ancient._

_'Come.'_

_The former king spun around as if he had heard someone talking behind him, but there was no one._

_Turn around. I lay not far from you, Ganondorf._

_How did the voice know his name? He stood there completely bewildered at this, but abruptly he began to walk straight ahead of him without thinking. It was as if someone was controlling his movements._

_'That's it. You're getting there.'_

_Soon, he stopped walking and his eyes widened in wonder. In front of him stood a tombstone, but the engraving on it could not be deciphered. How could it have gotten in this place though? And was there something buried below its surface? _

_He soon felt a surge of power flow through his veins. Yes, this was indeed the feeling that he had had for several days now. There must certainly be something mighty either within or below the tombstone._

_"Who is here? Speak to me!" Ganon shouted aloud._

_There was a small chuckle as a voice whispered into the air. 'That is none of your concern, but if you help release me... I might consider telling you.'_

_"How am I supposed to help you?" Ganondorf asked._

_'Destroy the tombstone. My spirit lies within it...'_

_Ganondorf proceeded to the tombstone, but then stopped. What was he getting himself into? Was this spirit a friend or foe? And what would he get out of freeing whatever it was?_

_'Trust me...'_

_Without another thought, Ganondorf commenced his walk to the tombstone again. This time he was left without control of his movements in recurrence of before. Was the spirit doing this, or was he losing his mind?_

_It didn't take him long to close the rest of the distance between him and the actual stone. __He raised his right fist and quickly brought it down on the tombstone, shattering it into pieces._

_He stood there in shock. Was all of this just in his head? That's what he was beginning to think, but suddenly a __light was emitted from where the tombstone once stood; an __eerie, fiery red light._

_Ganondorf shielded his eyes with his left arm as he backed away from the fierce light. Once it diminished, he lowered his arm and there, standing before him, was a young man who looked to be only about nineteen. He appeared to be a regular human being with short raven colored hair and piercing ruby red eyes. All he wore was black pants ripped at the knees. His shirtless body revealed well-toned muscles._

_The boy smirked and then said, "Thank you very much, Ganondorf." He spoke very strongly and mysteriously, which made the green skinned man shake in fear._

_"Wh-who are you?" he stammered._

_The boy laughed, "I suppose I should tell you. After all, you freed me from that awful prison! My name is Vulcan Ciadra. Sound familiar?"_

_Ganondorf gasped in shock, "B-but it's not true. It's only a myth; a story. How can it possibly be true?"_

_Vulcan gave him an icy glare, "Trust me. It's all true. Every single bit of it. From the day I met Naida to the day I was sealed in that tombstone by the sages and that pathetic keybearer."_

_"You lie! This-this is all a dream! This dark universe is making me go mad!" Ganondorf shouted as he fell to his knees._

_Vulcan slowly made his way over to Ganondorf, and put a hand on his shoulder. "Would you like me to end your suffering?" he hissed._

_Ganondorf whimpered. At first he didn't realize it was him. Why would he, the great King of Evil, whimper like a lowly dog? It was pathetic and he quickly became angry with himself for displaying such weakness as he had, even prior to now. He was going crazy. Yes, that was it. Like he had said before, he was indeed going mad._

"_And just what could you do to ease my suffering?" he asked coolly._

"_Well, for one…I could kill you," Vulcan stated, twisting his thin lips into a cruel smile. "But I'd like to help you instead. All you'd have to do is give me your heart."_

"_My heart?"_

"_Yes, without a heart you will feel nothing…and you will become all the more powerful."_

"_What's in it for you?" _

"_Only the pleasure of helping a friend in need."_

_Ganondorf didn't believe, but he was greedy for power. The Triforce of Power's power had become dormant, and now he craved to have that again. Maybe once his heart was gone, it would awaken. Maybe that was the kind of power Vulcan spoke of._

"_All right," Ganondorf declared._

"_It is good to see that we have reached an agreement. Say goodbye to your heart." Vulcan's ruby-hued eyes flared with an ethereal glow and the strangeness of it nearly made Ganondorf want to change his answer, but it was too late. _

_Vulcan's hands moved from his shoulders to his chest and they passed right through Ganondorf's armor and his muscled skin. Ganondorf generated a gasp as his body went numb and Vulcan removed his hands; in their clasp was a glowing object. _

_Ganondorf felt himself…shrink? He looked down and the last thing he saw was an odd black body standing where his had once been before the world itself went black around him._

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This is indeed a crossover fic (Kingdom Hearts and The Legend of Zelda) written by myself and Jupiter-Lightning. Although it hasn't gotten into any Kingdom Hearts stuff just yet, that will come next chapter as will a span in length. I hope you enjoyed the prologue and feedback would be very much appreciated. : )

-_blondie91_

**Disclaimer**: We do not own The Legend of Zelda or Kingdom Hearts.


	2. Chapter 1

******Chapter 1**

Princess Zelda gazed steadily at the peaceful land far below her bedroom window; moonlight filtered in. While everyone else in the kingdom was at rest, she was unable to join them in that untroubled state of pure bliss. ...She had had the same dream for a third night.

Seven years had come to pass since the reversal of time, and Hyrule had certainly prospered. In her dream however, she had envisioned a great darkness once again consuming the land...She had even caught a brief glimpse of Ganondorf, but she knew it was not he who was the threat, but someone far more powerful and _that_ was what worried her.

"Princess?"

She jumped in surprise and turned to see who had disrupted her thoughts. It was none other than Link.

"Since when do you address me by my title?" she asked with a smile as she took in the sight of him standing there with a concerned expression on his face. As usual, he wore that same green tunic, his blonde hair remained unkempt in a shaggy style, and the lone earring gave him somewhat of a roguish look-one she absolutely adored.

"You didn't respond to my calling your name," he shrugged. "Is something troubling you?"

"I had that dream again...," she sighed deeply, but then she realized something was misplaced. "And just what are you doing here? If my father found you in my room, especially at these hours, he would have you beheaded!"

"I was worried about you, that's all," he said. "Besides, there's nothing to worry about. I've never been caught and I never intend to be."

"That's the kind of attitude that'll get you caught."

"But I know my dear princess will come and save me. Switching rolls would be nice for a change you know," he replied cheekily.

"And just how many times have you had to save me from anything?" she snapped.

"Maybe twenty or so..."

She stared at him blankly.

"I'm only teasing."

"Oh...," she shook her head. "I'm just tired I guess, though I can't seem to get any more sleep."

"Would you like to come riding with me? Epona is just out in the field."

Another thought struck her. "Wait, how'd you get over the drawbridge into the town?"

"The guards left it down tonight. I think they're finally starting to realize that the monsters disappeared from Hyrule Field a while ago. If you want to come, get dressed and I'll be waiting for you outside your door."

Zelda nodded and went to retrieve a more suitable outfit than the nightgown she currently wore from her closet as Link exited the room and shut the door behind him. Once she was dressed in a pair of brown pants that her father had no clue about, a sleeveless red top, and a pair of boots, she and Link slipped silently out of the castle, through the quiet town, and out into Hyrule Field where Epona was indeed waiting.

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_In another land not too far away... _

Three long time friends were sitting on a slightly bent tree, gazing at the mystical ocean before them. The sun was about to set, but they still remained in their spots, enjoying the peace and quiet.

For the longest time, there had never been peace or quiet in their lives. Instead, it was taken away from them over a year ago by thousands of fiends called the Heartless, but now everything was okay again, and they could just sit and relax like they had when they were younger.

One quirky looking boy with brown spiky hair and cerulean colored eyes yawned and put his hands behind his head. "Shouldn't we be going now?" he asked the other two beside him.

The girl, sitting on his left side, faced the boy as she pushed a piece of her auburn colored hair away from her face. "Can't you just sit and enjoy the view for a while without asking how much longer we're going to be?"

Below them, the other boy with silvery hair and aquamarine eyes chuckled to himself waiting to hear what the other would say next.

"Yeah I can, but ... the sun's fixing to set and-"

"And nothing, Sora. Just sit and relax," the girl giggled, closing her eyes as the ocean wind brushed across her face.

Sora sighed heavily and looked at the girl. At this rate, he couldn't take his eyes off of her. She looked so pretty. He wanted just to put his hand on her cheek and caress it. He had missed her so much. _Kairi..._ Suddenly, he broke away from his dazed infatuation when he heard laughter below him.

He looked down to see his silver haired friend with a smug grin plastered onto his face, "Aw, Sora's in love..." he cooed.

"What?" Sora blushed. "Am not!"

"Are too!"

"Am not!"

"Are too!"

"What are you two arguing about now?"

Kairi snapped as she opened her eyes. Apparently, she wasn't listening to what they were saying, which caused Sora to breathe a huge sigh of relied.

"Nothing. Just to let ya know, Sora wa-." The silver haired boy was about to reveal what was going on, but was cut off when he received a smack on top of the head by Sora. He grimaced. "What was that for?"

"For being a tattle-tell, Riku," Sora grumbled.

Kairi giggled, "Just like the old times, huh you guys?"

There was no response from them. "You guys?"

Still nothing.

She glanced at Sora who seemed to be in some strange trance as well as Riku. What had just happened?

Suddenly, both Riku and Sora fell forward, collapsing onto the sandy ground. "SORA, RIKU!" Kairi shouted as she hopped down from the paopu tree. She shook the both of them, but they were out cold. "You guys, this isn't funny!" she said, tears stinging her eyes. "Get up!"

_Kairi! _

Kairi looked up. Did someone just say her name?

_Princess of Heart, listen to me! There's danger in another world. You must come with the keybearers to help fight this monstrosity._

The voice was as clear as day now. Something, or someone, was trying to give her a message.

"How? And what happened to Sora and Riku?"

_Just say you will come. The fate of a world and possibly others are at stake._

Kairi bit her bottom lip hard. They had just come home from an exhausting journey and now there was another one? She didn't want to accept this, but she didn't want to be alone without her two friends. She breathed in deeply and nodded her head. "Okay, I will go."

With an abrupt flash of blinding light, Kairi collapsed onto the ground beside Sora and that was the last thing she saw before everything faded into darkness.

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Link smiled as he felt Zelda's grip around his waist tighten sequentially with a flawless leap by Epona over a small fence. He was in a lighthearted mood and could tell that Zelda was starting to cheer up too and momentarily forget about the dream.

It wasn't that the dream needed forgetting or anything because of its message of impending doom, but a chance to unwind and have fun was much better than despairing over such a thing all of the time.

"What was that?" Zelda exclaimed several minutes later, completely startling Link as her statement rang out over the rhythmic pounding of hooves on land.

"What was what?"

"Hmm...It's gone now but--Oh no, there it is!"

"Where and what?" Link questioned, immediately bringing Epona to an abrupt halt. His eyes skimmed over the large blanket of the night's shadow that surrounded them.

"That shadow...I could have sworn it had glowing yellow eyes..." Zelda muttered to herself. "But it seems to have disappeared...or maybe I'm just seeing things..."

"I'm thinkin' you're just seein' things," Link replied slowly as he casually continued his search. His nerves were on edge now so it was very likely that he had said that merely to quell his own fears.

Suddenly Epona reared and the two were thrown from her back. Link twisted himself sideways while still airborne to avoid landing on Zelda. Impacting the ground was a painful experience and he knew the same stood for Zelda when he heard her moan. Epona was in a mad frenzy and Link quickly forced himself up so he could figure out what was wrong. Before the horse were two glowing orbs that beamed out from the surrounding darkness, and Link sensed evil in this thing.

"Stop Epona!" Link yelled.

The horse heeded to her master's command and once backing several elongated feet away from the strange glow, she stood motionless. Link bent to help Zelda up and signaled for her to go by Epona incase an escape was necessary.

He drew his sword, one he always carried with him in its sheath on his back, and approached the yellow light that pierced the darkness just outside the moon's radiance. He froze when it too, stepped towards him. However, when it proceeded to lunge at him, he went into instant action and sidestepped what would have been a nasty blow from a sharp set of claws.

In that moment he caught a good view of the owner of what he discovered to really be glowing yellow eyes, and was slightly taken aback. It was a creature that appeared to be made of shadow...and it made its intent evident when it tried to attack once again.

Link responded with another sidestep and swung his sword in a wide arc, catching the strange creature across its side. Instead of blood, black puss, that was scarcely visible, oozed from the fresh wound and some even splattered onto Link's clothing.

The moon brightened its light and the darkness was illuminated so that Link had a much clearer view of his adversary.

"What is it?" Zelda asked.

"I don't know---Zelda, watch out!"

Upon hearing Zelda's voice, the creature had decided to go for her instead. Out of desperation Link forgot about his own safety and tackled into the creature before it could reach her, and they both tumbled to the ground. To make matters worse, Link's sword flew from his hand only to fall far from his grasp.

The mysterious creature gouged Link with its claws and pain tore through him with each new opening added to his vulnerable flesh.

"Zelda---sword!" he shouted without hesitation and stuck a free hand out in the air. His other hand was busy trying to pry the creature off of him.

Zelda easily retrieved the sword and tossed it so that the hilt landed in his outstretched hand. Link kicked the surprisingly lightweight creature so that it flew up into the air above him and as it fell back towards the earth where he laid, he thrust his sword upwards and it tore right through his assailant. The body slid farther down the sword and after delivering one last slash to Link's chest, it went limp and Link shoved it aside and yanked his sword free to find it covered in black goop.

He breathed a deep sigh of relief as Zelda dashed to his side.

"I think I've heard talk of such a creature, but I shrugged it off to be only something meant to scare children into submission," Zelda said in a shaky tone of voice.

"That figures," Link muttered, looking down at the black puddle before him. Something seemed very familiar about that creature, but he couldn't seem to put his finger on it. Other than that, though, where did these fiends come from? And who had brought them here?

He slowly turned to the princess and put a comforting hand on her shoulder. "I think we should take you back to the castle. It's obviously not as safe as we first thought."

**  
"**I'm not going anywhere until you've rested a bit," Zelda stated defiantly. "And just look at yourself Link, you're bleeding."

"It's nothing I can't handle," Link argued. "Besides, we're in more danger if we stay here."

"I'm not afraid."

Link sighed and struggled to stand, but pain stormed his system. "Fine, you win. I suppose a few minutes rest should be ok...but then we're out of here. Deal?"

"Deal," Zelda declared.

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Reviewer replies for the prologue may be accessed by going to my profile and clicking homepage. Thank you reviewers very much! We hope you enjoyed this chapter. : )  
-_blondie91 _

**Disclaimer**: We do not own The Legend of Zelda or Kingdom Hearts.


	3. Chapter 2

**Chapter 2**

"Ow..." Sora groaned as he awakened from his previous state of unconsciousness. His eyes slowly opened and he sat up to get a better view of his surroundings, only to find that he was in a field...close to the edge of some sort of wooded area.

"Sora, Riku...that you guys?" Kairi's voice echoed from behind him.

He turned to see Riku not too far from him and the same stood for Kairi as well. The three of them got up and moved towards each other so that they could converse easily.

"Where are we?" Kairi asked, a question they all wanted to know the answer to.

"I wish I knew." Riku said. "Did a strange voice talk to you guys too or did I lose my sanity for a brief instant back there?"

"Yup, I heard it too," Sora said and Kairi nodded to signal that such was the same case for her.

"Well, what are we going to do now? We have no idea where we are and this obviously isn't Destiny Island...It can only be assumed that this is the world in danger, but where do we start from? If things hadn't been left in such confusion then maybe we wouldn't be so lost..." Riku said.

"Did I hear the word lost?" came a voice from the surrounding gloom.

"Who said that, where are you?" Sora called out.

"Feel free to look up anytime now," it audited. They immediately turned their gazes skyward and Riku was the first to spot it. The 'it' appeared to be a man held at the end of a giant balloon. "Just give me a moment to get down!"

Apparently he deflated the balloon too fast because the next thing they knew, he had crashed into the ground in front of them. Once he rose to his feet though, they were able to get a better look at him-even with only the dim light the moon provided.

Dressed in an odd green suit with what looked to be red underwear worn on the outside and a covering over his head that extended to a point at the top and where one's ears would be located, the short man cut quite a comic figure. "Tingle the fairy at your service," he stated with a bow that seemed slightly pained.

"You're a fairy?" Sora asked quizzically. "You look more like a thirty-five year old man."

"Hmph, indeed I am a fairy. After making such an insulting accusation you should be grateful for the fact that I will still offer to sell you one of my maps."

"Maps? Maps of what? What is this place?" Kairi prompted.

"Hyrule of course, now how many rupees do ya got?"

All three blinked.

"Just what is a 'rupee'?" Sora questioned.

"Why, it's Hyrule's currency of course. You're not telling me you don't have any rupees are you?" Tingle's chubby cheeks flushed with what appeared to be a hint of anger mixed with annoyance.

"I've got munny if that will do," Riku volunteered.

"Good, then I will take this money in exchange for a map of this area of Hyrule," Tingle said thinking he was really getting money, as in rupees, and they were just playing dumb.

Riku dug out a few small yellow pieces from his pocket and handed them to Tingle, who in turn stared at it in bafflement. "These are not rupees...Hmph, no rupees mean you get the cheaper map."

He had had a hand on one rolled up piece of paper sticking from his pack but now he reached for another one and pulled it out before handing it to them.

"Tingle, tingle, kooloo-limpah!" the strange man suddenly exclaimed the strange words and did a backflip in place before doubling over when he landed it. "Ugh...my back...I'm getting to old for this--Oh, those are my magic words that I made up so don't steal them!"

Riku ignored him and quickly unfolded the map; Sora and Kairi joined him in studying it.

"This thing looks like it was drawn by a five year old..." Riku muttered referring to the fact that it was just a bunch of drawn in dashes to signal pathways and several crude representations of certain places.

"Hey, you're right! That guy ripped you off," Sora said looking up to scold the man...but Tingle was no longer in sight. "Hmm...I wonder where he went."

"Nevermind that, we might as well work with what we have," Riku stated.

And so they began an attempt to follow the strange markings Tingle had put on paper for them. Had they remembered to look up, they would have found the man back in the air continuing to think he was really a fairy.

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The moon illuminated the Hyrulian market place as the villagers slept peacefully. There seemed to be no sign of strange creatures lurking in the shadows of the alleyways, unless you counted numerous homeless people curled up against the walls, sleeping as pain and sadness held its firm grip on them. It was clearly a ghost town as of now.

But not for long.

In the midst of the night, two strangers were walking along the market streets. Once the moonlight had struck their figures, they were revealed to be completely clothed in ripped, dirty brown cloaks; the top of their faces being the only thing visible. They continued to walk on, but the taller of the two spoke up abruptly, "Val, it could have been a piece of trash or something, nothing valuable."

The shorter one, Val, glanced up and glared at his companion and spoke in a deep male voice, "Since when am I ever wrong about such things, dear Fia? I'm positive it was something gold!"

The female sighed and rolled her eyes, "Well it's probably been found now, especially if it was earlier this afternoon that you had spotted it."

The short man stopped in his tracks and pointed his finger, "If I say it's found, then it's found. I didn't say that now did I?"

Fia looked at the man, utterly baffled at this statement. Did that even make sense?

"Now, hurry up. Someone might be listening in on us." Val continued to walk on, but as for Fia, she just stood in the same spot and took down her hood, revealing her raven colored hair. Her indigo eyes glistened brightly in the moon's radiance.

"Chop, chop. We haven't all night!" the man barked at Fia.

Fia sighed and continued to walk on. Why did she even agree to come along with this bossy-not to mention short-man?

They both continued further down the road and soon after, Val quickly turned to the left and entered an alleyway. He stopped and pointed at something shining a little ways away from him. "You see it?"

Fia squinted her eyes and to her disappointment she did see something shining in the dirt, but she was still extremely skeptic about it being of worth. "Yeah."

Val clapped for joy as he ran over to the shining object, quickly digging through the dirt with his bare hands. Fia watched his child-like ways in pure amusement.

In a record-breaking time, the man held that something in the palm of his right hand. He laughed and jumped around like a little child who had just received candy from his mother.

"It's gold, it's gold!" he said happily.

"What? Are you serious?" Fia asked.

"See for yourself," Val said, holding up the small golden piece.

Fia's eyes widened in shock. It clearly looked like a piece of gold. She walked over to Val to get a closer look at it. It was indeed a piece of gold, but a piece of gold that looked oddly familiar as if she had seen this piece once before. She wanted to look at it more closely, so she extended her hand out. "May I see it, Val?"

But instead of being the friend that he was supposed to be, he quickly turned away from her, "You may not. I found it fair and square! Why, for all I know you could run off with it!"

Fia gasped in surprise, "What? But, I'm your friend, aren't I? I just want to get a closer looked at it. It looks awfully familiar to me and-"

"And nothing, girl! I have no further use for you now that I'm going to be the richest man in Hyrule!" And with that, he took off running.

Fia's jaw dropped as she watched the man run. Didn't he just say two days ago that he would always be there and help her? Didn't he say he would always be her friend? What was with the change of heart all of a sudden? She finally concluded that he had merely used her to find riches. Just days ago, he had called her his good luck charm. She never understood why, but she did now.

She sighed deeply. If she wanted to stay alive in the streets, she needed to go after him and either reason with him or take the golden piece from him. Somehow she felt it wasn't safe in his hands, anyway.

So, without further ado, she sprinted into the night at full speed.

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By now Sora, Riku, and Kairi had given up trying to interpret Tingle's map, mostly due to the fact that they had spotted a giant structure looming up ahead and that was where they decided to head for. The only problem was, it was impossible to judge how much distance they would have to cover in order to reach their destination.

"Do you think we were sent to the wrong world? I figured since whoever that freaky voice belonged to sounded kinda urgent that we would have met some kind of welcoming committee, ya know?" Sora said.

"There's no way of knowing for sure just yet, we'll have to keep walking and see what all we can find out," Riku said. "So far we know this place is called Hyrule so at least we've got something."

The structure they were aiming for seemed to have abruptly gotten very close and if it weren't for Sora's tripping over something they would have kept on going.

"Oof!" he exclaimed as he collided with the ground.

"That was incredibly smooth," Riku sarcastically stated.

"Shut up…" Sora muttered in defense.

Kairi went to help him, but when she spotted what it was he had tripped over, she had to throw a hand over her mouth to muffle a scream.

Sora got up and gave her a baffled look. "What is it?"

"Sora, look behind you…" Riku articulated slowly.

Sora turned his head and jumped. It had been the outstretched legs of a man's body, though the flesh was so disfigured that it was hard to tell it was even human. The corpse was of short stature and one arm had been torn halfway off with an empty hand laying there as if something had been pried from its grasp. In several places the body appeared to be charred as if struck by fire, and the eyes were frozen gazing wide open in fright up at the sky as if the man had been taken by surprise.

"W-what…do you think happened to him?" Kairi squeaked.

"I dunno, but I can hear someone coming…we better get out of here," Riku affirmed.

The approach he heard was actually the sound of hoof beats and had they not been so mortified it would have been noticed before now, but such wasn't the case. Unfortunately for them, they didn't have time to get out of the vicinity.

The noise came to an immediate stop as two figures atop a majestic red horse halted next to them. They seemed taken off guard to see the dead body.

"We didn't kill him if that's what you're thinking!" Sora told them as a boy garbed in the strangest clothes he had ever seen dismounted the horse.

"Then tell me who did," he snapped coldly in return.

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Welp, there's another chapter for ya that me and Jupiter hope you enjoyed. Be sure to check out the reviewer replies on my homepage. If you're really into Kingdom Hearts fan-fiction then Jupiter-Lightning has some awesome ones that you can access by going to her profile page. : )

-_blondie91_

**Disclaimer**: We do not own The Legend of Zelda or Kingdom Hearts.


	4. Chapter 3

**Chapter 3**

"W-we don't know," Sora stammered when neither of his companions offered any comment.

Link didn't buy this however. He glared at the trio with his piercing blue eyes.

Zelda was willing to give them the benefit of the doubt though. Maybe they were just travelers passing through and accidentally stumbling upon this mutilated corpse. She gave them the kindest smile she could and spoke, "May I ask, where are you three coming from? And who are you?"

Kairi was the first to speak, "I'm Kairi and this is Sora and Riku. You may find this hard to believe, but we don't really know how we got here. One minute we were on our island and the next thing we knew, we blacked out and ended up here..."

"We actually heard a voice that was rather... worried about something before we blacked out," Riku said.

Zelda turned her gaze to Sora and he quickly nodded in agreement with the others. "I see," Zelda muttered.

"That sounds a bit hard to believe," Link stated with a roll of his eyes.

Zelda ignored him and spoke once again to the strangers, "Just what is the name of your island?"

"Destiny Island, ma'am," Sora said politely.

"Hmm," Zelda pondered. "I've never heard of such a place, nor have I seen such clothing. Well, for now I deem you three innocent."

Link sighed. The three's predicament was a bit too fishy for his liking, but why would they wait to attack? There was no reason for that and they appeared to be unarmed anyways.

_Maybe they were brought here by fate if they say they just suddenly appeared here. And maybe it was one of the goddesses who sent a message to them… _Zelda thought hopefully.

"Well, we ought to find you all a place to stay…but just know you haven't earned my full trust yet," Link bluntly put it with that last bit there at the end to warn them that he'd be watching them closely.

"Suit yourself," Riku replied coldly.

Moments later, Zelda had instructed that they were to stay with her for the night and as they began to make their way in that direction, obtrusive shadows appeared and lengthened over the ground.

"What's going on?" Link asked suspiciously.

He received no answer, but it wasn't long before the shadows began to take definite shapes...ones similar in form to what he had just fought with. Only this time, there was a whole lot more to deal with.

"Heartless? What are Heartless doing here?" Sora asked as a rhetorical question. Much to Link and Zelda's astonishment, an oversized key appeared in his hand, as did in the hands of Riku and Kairi.

There was no time for any more comments to be made as the first wave of heartless attacked.

Zelda had remained on Epona and now the faithful steed made a great leap so that it stood outside the ring, having smartly brought itself as well as its current rider to momentarily safety so that they could get away if need be.

Link swiftly drew out is own sword in one fluid motion and met the attack head on. Around him Riku, Sora, and Kairi could be seen hacking away with lethal accuracy as they expertly wielded their strange weapons. He was glad to find they were fighting on his side against those things. Link was astounded to discover that these specific creatures died much easier than the one from his last encounter. There weren't that many of them so in no time at all they had finished the job, but during that hectic time the dead body had disappeared.

"Where'd…that man go?" Kairi asked; her eyes revealing her confusion.

"There's no telling," Sora said, "but I wouldn't be surprised if they took him."

"That battle was _too_ easy," Riku added in his normal, arrogant tone of voice.

"So tell me...you guys actually know what those things are?" Link questioned.

"Of course," Sora replied. "They're called the Heartless, beings without hearts. They crave the dark in other peoples' hearts and that's what attracts them."

"Oh my..." Zelda covered her mouth.

"Then that's probably why you're here," Link said, gazing down at their oversized keys. "What are those supposed to be?"

Sora averted his gaze down to his blade, "These? These are called Keyblades. They can defeat Heartless and they are afraid of them..."

Link snorted unimpressed. "Well obviously they can defeat these 'Heartless', but I'd prefer not to run into any more of those things for now so it would be a good idea to get back as soon as possible."

He remounted Epona, and Zelda, torn by weariness, took the opportunity to rest her head on his back. Technically Link should have been the tired one so it was kind of ironic, but it had been a long time since he had felt such adrenaline pumping through his veins and he was more awake than ever. Though, he knew he would collapse when all the excitement died down.

Despite his urge to gallop ahead, Link kept Epona's pace at a slow one so that Sora, Riku, and Kairi could walk alongside them.

An awkward silence hung over the group for a time before Zelda spoke as they were just entering the market. Normally Epona wasn't allowed in so far, but it was night time and no one had stopped Link so he was going to keep going as he was.

"I take it...that you people have dealt with those beings before?"

"Oh yes, but those aren't the worst of 'em," Sora said with a sigh.

"Just before we ran into you all, Link here got in a fight with one like what that group was. Though this one was alone, it put up a decent fight," Zelda went on to say.

"Alone...? That's different for that kind of Heartless, but I think it was someone in this world that had their heart stolen...someone who wanted revenge," Riku voiced. "Now why would anyone want revenge on you two?"

Link immediately voiced, "That is none of your concern."

"But some are just stronger than others anyway," Sora said, trying his best to avoid any arguments with who was probably their only hope of surviving in this place.

More silence fell as the group soon came to a stop in front have a large castle. Kairi's eyes widened, "A castle? We're going to stay at a castle!"

Zelda smiled and nodded in reply.

Link jumped off Epona and helped Zelda down. "We have to get in quietly without waking up anyone," Zelda said in a quiet manner. "Follow me."

The trio quickly followed behind her, but Link on the other hand stood and watched them enter the castle. When Zelda eventually realized this, she stuck her head out the door. "Link, are you coming?" she asked.

Link shook his head, "I think I should scout out the area, make sure there isn't anymore trouble."

Of course she thought he would have followed along considering the fact that he was wary of the travelers, but she then glanced at the tiresome look on his face. "Link, you should get some rest. You can't fight a whole group of these things alone, especially if you're exhausted..."

Zelda was right and Link knew it, but during the silence along the way, he had some strange feeling that he had to do something, and do it after the princess was safe inside the castle…even though he _was_still doubtful of the key wielding teens.

"Go on ahead. I'll be fine," Link told her.

Zelda gave him a sad look, "Well, okay then." She ducked back inside and the door closed following her departure. Link wondered what she would tell her father as an excuse for being out so late at night…and bringing guests as well, but Link was confident she could handle the situation just fine.

Now that that was done, he jumped back onto Epona and rode off into the night.

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Epona's hooves beating on the cobblestone was set in a pleasant rhythmic pattern and Link felt at ease. At the castle there were plenty of guards so if worse came to worse, surely they'd be available to handle it.

"Hey you, that's my horse!" came the indignant scream of a man that surprised Link enough to cause him to yank on the reigns and jerk his horse to a stop.

"What's going--..." Link began, but then he knew. Just ahead was the lowered drawbridge and standing there shaking his fist was the man he assumed had issued the shout...Riding away from him out into the field was someone on horse back.

Link brought Epona back into motion and rode to another halt beside the man. The man, who was of medium height and a bit pudgy about the middle, took this opportunity to share his problem with Link.

"That wretched girl stole my horse and after I had stopped to share a conversation with such a low life like her too. This is an outrage!"

Link smiled. "I take it you want me to go after this thief?"

"That would be what I'm hinting at, yes."

"Very well then." And with that, Link shot off after the other rider.

The man's cry of thank you!" reached his pointed ears, but the distance between them had already stretched a good distance so it was very faint.

Epona was a fast horse and Link felt as though he were flying sitting atop her like that. The other rider's stolen horse was decently fast, but definitely not fast enough to outmatch Link's prized steed. **I**n fact, not much time passed before they were going neck and neck and Link pulled Epona into a pace that would keep them that way for the time being.

The rider of the other horse was indeed a girl and a black mass of hair flew behind her as the wind rushed through it. She clung to the reigns with a death grip as if it were her lifeline and did not even cast a glance in Link's direction, though by the expression on her face Link could tell she was frightened.

"You'd better stop!" Link yelled loud enough for her to have surely heard him. However, he was ignored. _Very well then, I suppose we'll just have to do this the hard way._

Link urged Epona onward and she sped on pass so that he was just a few feet in front...this few feet was perfect for completing his quickly thought up strategy though. He suddenly veered his horse inwards so that he crossed paths with the girl and with them being so near there was no time for her horse to make a different turn and go on by...Instead, she did the only thing she could do and jerked on the reigns so hard that the horse immediately stopped, though just a hair's breadth from Link's mount.

He leaned over and grabbed her wrist. "Now you can come with me willingly or I'll forcefully drag you back to the market. Which will it be?"

"Please don't make me go back there..." she begged, struggling to pull away from his strong grip. "You can take the horse back, just please don't take me back..."

Link almost felt sorry for the girl. She looked to be around his age though was quite disheveled with her clothes being so dirty, and she seemed awfully scared of something. Was she afraid of the consequences her attempt at robbery would bring her?

Without another thought, Link hitched the horse onto Epona's reigns and headed back to the market place at a slow pace. The girl was still on the stolen horse, looking down at the ground. Link couldn't tell whether she was afraid of something or ashamed at what she had done.

Little did Link know at the time, she was waiting for a perfect moment to get away. Once Link had turned his gaze away from her, she jumped off the horse and ran as fast has she could in the opposite direction.

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Jupiter-Lightning: And that's chapter three. Thanks to all who have reviewed so far. Reviewer replies are on blondie91's homepage.

**Disclaimer**: We do not own The Legend of Zelda or Kingdom Hearts. Fia and Val would be Jupiter's on the other hand.


	5. Chapter 4

**Chapter 4**

"Oh no you don't!" Link exclaimed, dive bombing off his horse and chasing after her. In no time at all, he had tackled her to the ground and pinned her there.

"Get off..." she grumbled.

Instead, Link scooped her up and locked her in the fetal position before carrying her back to where the horses were stationed.

He placed her to where she sat on Epona and swiftly hopped up behind her. He kept his arms firmly around her as he held the reigns and sent the horses off on their slow pace again.

"Why are you doing this to me?" she sobbed.

"Why did you steal the horse?" he snapped in return, and she fell silent at that.

Of course, it took a while longer to make it back than it had to get all the way out there, but they made it soon enough and the man was still waiting in that same spot. He rejoiced upon Link's approaching.

"Praise Din, you caught the little thief!" the man said as he ran towards them and unhitched his horse. "How can I ever thank you?"

"Don't worry about it," Link said.

"I see," the man said, turning his gaze to the girl who quickly looked away from him.

"Why did you steal his horse?" Link repeated.

"I-I was scared," she stammered.

"You filthy liar! She should be beheaded for this!" the man roared.

At this point, tears were beginning to fall from the girl's eyes.

"Cool it bub," Link berated the man before returning to questioning the girl. "Now tell me first, what is your name? And just what was it you were scared of?"

"F-fia…My name is Fia. My friend…I saw him…murdered…He was burned. I remember a fire that came from nowhere. I didn't want the murderer to have a shot at killing me too, so I ran back to the market to find the fastest transportation possible. A horse could get me away from here quickly, that's why I took his," as Fia spoke, her sentences grew less choked to a more articulated tone and the tears had stopped.

_Fire…? _Link remembered the charred appearance that body had had when first encounter the strangers from that island they mentioned. That must have been her friend, and here he had an eye witness to the murder. He knew what he would do now.

Link tossed a red object into the man's hand and said, "I know a red rupee has only the value of twenty, but don't breathe a word to anyone of the incident and that will be yours for the keeping."

The man was about to protest, but then nodded. He had gotten his horse back and earned some extra cash, so there was no reason for him to be upset and that was the decision he had settled on.

"Very well then, goodbye to you and be sure to watch your horse a bit more carefully," Link said before having Epona placed into a trot as he set off.

Once they were well enough away from the man and coming up the path to the castle, Link asked Fia, "Did you happen to see who killed your friend?"

"Why are you bringing me to the castle?" she asked hesitantly instead of answering his question.

"Don't worry. Just tell me if you saw the murderer," Link said.

Fia let out a sigh and shook her head, "I don't know what he looked like. It was too dark. All I can remember was fire…and his eyes; he had such evil eyes, fiery red in color." As she said this, she shuddered with fear.

Link still held onto her rather tightly, but had noticed she didn't struggle as much as she had first done. Maybe a bit of trust was building? Either way, he wasn't about to let his guard down. This person with 'fiery red eyes' seemed to ring an alarm bell deep within Link's core as if something bad were to come about because of them. He wondered if Zelda had ever mentioned such eyes when telling him about her recurring nightmare…

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Zelda breathed out a sigh. Instead of retreating to bed, she had taken residence at her window, a place she spent doing one of her favorite pastimes often and that was sorting over her thoughts. Since her bedroom was on a high level of the castle, it also provided her with an excellent view…an excellent view that had suddenly become very unappealing to her eyes.

She spotted Link riding up and wrapped tightly in his arms was another girl. It didn't matter the distance Zelda was from the ground, she was sure of what she saw and she saw them stopped at the open gate by a soldier. Apparently the guards had been trading shifts or something when they had reentered with company the first time.

She darted out the door and hurried down the multiple flights of stairs so she could intercept them before Link decided to take the initiative and sneak his way in…though he did this often, the circumstances were different and Zelda certainly didn't like the idea of him sneaking around with the girl. For Link's sake, his 'scouting' had better not have had anything to do with her.

Zelda crept around the grounds as not to be seen and met Link just as he was pulling the girl up the vines after him. What he received, was a brutal slap across his cheek.

"Ow…what was that for?" he grumbled, rubbing at the section of newly turned red skin as a stinging pain crawled across the area.

Zelda nodded in Fia's direction but her words were directed at Link, "Care to explain yourself?"

Link gave her a bewildered look. She wanted him to explain what? As far as he saw things, she had some explaining to do on her own part; in other words, why the heck had she gone and slapped him like that?

"Well?" Zelda snapped.

"Explain what?" Link finally asked.

By this point, something triggered within Zelda; something angry. "You pick some unknown girl off of the streets and let her in the castle grounds? Seems kind of suspicious to me don't you think?" she stated icily.

Link hesitated a moment before replying, unsure of how to console Zelda in such a way that she would believe him. "It's not what you think. You see, something happened and I didn't expect this kinda reaction from you, so gimme a break and I'll explain further so long as you don't make any more wrong assumptions."

Zelda nodded; her eyes narrowed as she fixed him with a piercing stare. Fia simply stared at the ground sheepishly, unsure of what she could do or say.

Link let out a sigh of relief and began to explain, "Well…I heard someone shoutin' when I went to the market and, it turned out this girl had stolen someone's horse so--."

"You're telling me you brought a thief?" Zelda asked, purposefully trying to badger him and be a nuisance.

"And you brought those foreigners here despite my mistrust of them so why don't you just shut it?" Link growled. Apparently there were a few chains about to be pulled.

Zelda's cheeks flushed with an angry red. It was frustrating how they had gone from being so at ease and happy with one another not too long ago and now a fierce displeasure was kindling between them. "How dare you tell me to--…"

"Before y'all…well, do whatever, how about I explain…" Fia began, timidly butting in. "I stole that horse…out of fear. My friend, Val, was murdered by something evil. I got scared and ran off before whatever it was saw me."

And with this statement, the anger and agitation with the other building up between Link and Zelda was extinguished. "Evil, you say?"

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"Something is obviously up if we were somehow transported here," Sora said.

The trio were all sprawled out across the room assigned to Riku.

Riku was leaning against the wall with his arms folded. He seemed to be in deep thought for a moment, until he finally spoke, "And it's obviously because of the Heartless, and they're under someone's control."

"Well, whoever it is will probably keep us guessing…" Sora muttered. "But that Link guy is startin' to get on my nerves. What did we do to not make him trust us?"

"We probably interrupted their date," Riku smirked.

Kairi rolled her eyes, "That's not funny."

"Well, it is to me," Riku laughed.

"Uh-huh…" Sora said slowly. "Whatever the case, what do you think we can do to earn this trust? I think I'd prefer to not be on his bad side…"

"Just be on the lookout for a chance to save him from 'certain death' and I'm sure that'll get him to lighten up towards all of us," Riku said.

"I sure hope so…" Kairi put in.

Suddenly there was a loud crash and glass went flying everywhere as black shapes infiltrated the room, and the three jumped in surprise.

Sora sprung up and his Keyblade immediately appeared in hand. "This certainly isn't a good sign…"

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"Why can't I just go?" Fia asked. "I haven't done anything wrong—er I mean, you've apparently cleared my name."

"We haven't cleared your name yet," Zelda snapped. "And you haven't answered a previous question of mine. You mentioned some 'evil'; I want to hear about it."

Fia cringed at the harshness of Zelda's words as they hit her. "Well…maybe it was just some crook, ya know? I might have been just imagining things and I'd really like to go now…the horse was brought back so I don't see why my crime should matter anymore."

"She mentioned 'fiery red eyes'…does that ring a bell?" Link voiced and Fia sighed deeply, wanting at this point to be anywhere but where she was. These people were beginning to get on her last nerve and what right did they have to hold her here anyways?

Zelda closed her eyes, deep in thought. Fiery red eyes. That did ring a bell for some reason. Thinking harder, it finally came to her.

_She envisioned a town that had seemed to be a place for peace and happiness. Kind of like Hyrule was when it wasn't being ravaged by all sorts of horrible things._

_Zelda stood right in the middle of the main square as the people walked around, not even taking notice of her, but suddenly, she heard shouting and everyone stopped what they were doing and looked up. Zelda slowly followed their petrified glances to see a shadowy figure, standing on the highest balcony of a palace. A palace? Was there one there just seconds ago?_

_Suddenly everything around her spontaneously burst into one big bout of flame…and somehow she could tell this shadowy figure was the one that had brought it to life._

_The crowd let out blood curdling screams and began to run. Zelda tried to too, but she was frozen and unable to move. She watched helplessly as the figure jumped down from the balcony and onto the ground below. _

_Like the fire raging around her, that same fire seemed to shine in the person's eyes as they approached her. Terror filled the center of her being as she became helpless in her immobility and the other's presence was all the closer..._

_She closed her eyes tightly; praying to the goddesses, and when she opened her eyes, she didn't see those fiery red eyes. Instead, she saw a strange woman who smiled slightly. She mouthed something to Zelda, though she couldn't quite make out what she had said, and the woman gently grabbed her by the wrist and placed something in the palm of Zelda's hand. After this, she was gone and Zelda was blinded by a flash of white light._

When the light died down, Zelda found herself back in her own castle with something in the palm of her hand still. When she looked down, she noticed that it was a small key...

"You zoned out, so I carried you back here and set you there," Link's voice cut across her dazed mind.

She blushed and turned to face him. She wasn't sure how she had done that…what she had just experienced seemed too real, and it wasn't right for her to have the key she had just envisioned. What she had just seen was like an extension of only an extremely small portion of her previous cycle of dreams. The part where the fire consumed those around her in its massive fury…

"What did you do with that Fia girl, anyways?" she asked, fingering the key and pondering over whether she should tell Link of this dream world portion or not…though she knew he'd want an explanation of her little space out sooner or later.

"She's still--…." he was cut off by a loud scream that rang shrilly from just around the corner in a neighboring hallway. "It sounds like we've got trouble."

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All righty, from now on this fic will be updated on a two-three week basis (hopefully it will only take that long). I know that's a long time for something like this, but you can blame me for this and not Jupiter because…I just think we need to more time to come up with a decent chapter for this fic. The reviews are very much appreciated and some replies have been posted on my homepage so be sure to check that out. The both of us hope you enjoyed this chapter: )

-_blondie91_

**Disclaimer**: We do not own The Legend of Zelda or Kingdom Hearts.


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